Catheter apparatus, particularly useful for the drainage of the chest cavity, i.e. the region surrounding the lungs, in the treatment of certain chest injuries, illnesses and in post-operative treatment, was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,463,159. The apparatus disclosed in the patent, commonly known as the Heimlich valve, has been a successful improvement over earlier catheters in providing means for continuous drainage of the chest cavity, while eliminating the need for cumbersome drainage apparatus, particularly apparatus requiring water traps, such as those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,363,626; 3,363,627; 3,559,647 and 3,683,913.
While the Heimlich valve is quite useful, it must be used with additional apparatus to insert a catheter into the boy cavity to be drained, to connect the catheter to the valve and to provide for discharge of fluids removed from the body cavity from the discharge of the valve. It has been necessary to obtain the additional apparatus, usually from several sources, and to assure the sterility of each of the components to be placed in communication with the body cavity or in the area of the patient's body in which the catheter is to be inserted. Moreover, while the use of the Heimlich valve permitted rapid emergency treatment and transportation of patients, the additional apparatus frequently restricted the freedom of movement of the patient.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide compact, self-contained means for the drainage of a body cavity.
It is another object of the present invention to provide body cavity drainage apparatus in which a catheter is preassembled to the drainage valve apparatus, and the entire assembly is lightweight and portable.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a self-contained sterile kit which can be readily used for drainage of a body cavity.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.